Important Upcoming Dates Curricular Updates Haiti Donations Reminder Hello everyone! Since we have so many exciting things coming up, I figured I'd begin our newsletter with a list of upcoming events and dates. -Tuesday, February 27 there will be a math test on multiplying and dividing fractions. -Wednesday, February 28 Mr. Murdock has requested that all students arrive at school by 7:30am because they need to get into their Wax Museum costumes (we are costuming them tomorrow, Monday) and prepare for their All School Meeting performance that morning. -Friday, March 2 is the student presentation of their Wax Museum characters. It will be in the Commons from 1:30-2:30. Afterwards students will breakdown their backdrops and hang their costumes up, and be free to leave for the weekend. -Tuesday, March 6 we are taking a field trip to Boston. Once we get there, we board a trolley to take us on a tour of places where we can see evidence of the Revolutionary War in Boston. -Thursday, March 8 is when the Wax Museum will go on the road and at the New Bedford Whaling Museum on their AHA night. Students can stay through until we board the bus at 5, and childcare at after school will be free. We will also invite students who stayed through to have pizza in our classrooms before we head to museum, around 4:30. There will be no return bus to school, so it will be essential that a parents or guardian picks the children up at the Whaling Museum at 7 on Thursday night. Curriculum Update Recently we've been continuing our work with fractions, and have moved into multiplying and dividing fractions. Students work on developing comfort and competence through our online IXL program and in their workbooks. We will have an assessment early this week before we move on to some basic algebra. We are cruising through My Brother Sam Is Dead in humanities, and hoping to finish this book before we leave for March break. We continue to use this story to discuss the Revolutionary War through the lens of the main character, Tim's, experiences. Students have been working hard to write and now memorize their exciting Wax Museum speeches. I cannot wait for them to share their costumes, backdrops, and speeches with you this Friday! Information on our drive for goods for Haiti:
FA has strong connections to Haiti. From clothing drives, to providing computers, and sharing technology the FA community has supported this impoverished country. Mrs. Reimer will be traveling to Haiti on a medical mission trip over March break -she will be providing well baby/child care. The clinic has asked for supplies to give to these needy families. She would appreciate any donations that you could provide: toothpaste, toothbrushes, bar soap, children’s multivitamins, and small toys. Another connection to Haiti is an FA family is adopting a child in April and will bring donations to the orphanage. Towels, crib sheets, and underwear (size 2-6) are being gratefully accepted. Donation boxes are located in front of the library and 5th grade. Thank you! I hope you are enjoying your weekend, and that Friends Fest and the Morrisey's event were fun! I spent my Saturday nursing a fever and body aches...but woke up today, Sunday, feeling good as new. Thank goodness! Ms. B
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ERBs & Wax Museum Upcoming Conferences Drive for Haiti Hello, all! This week students have been hard at work, focusing mainly on three things. First, taking their ERB tests. So far we have taken the following sections: verbal reasoning, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and writing concepts and skills. Next week the fifth graders finish ERBs, including the following sections: quantitative reasoning, and math sections one and two. Then we are done with these standardized tests the kids find *oh so* enjoyable. They have also been dedicating quite a bit of time and effort to researching their Wax Museum figures. They are taking notes on their historical figure in four categories: -Early life -Revolutionary War Involvement -Legacy/"Known For" -Miscellaneous Next week we will begin writing our speeches, and then get to our memorizing for the main event! The Wax Museum event itself will be held at school on March 2 at 1:30 in the Commons. We also are planning on having Wax Museum on the road for the third year in a row at the New Bedford Whaling Museum on AHA night. Stay tuned for more information on that. The fifth graders have also been making preparations for student led conferences. They will be ready (and hopefully excited!) to share their updated goals and share some selected work with you when we all sit down to meet.
Lastly, I wanted to let parents know that many of the students in our class decided to work with Maura Reimer to collect items to donation to impoverished children in Haiti. Maura is taking a trip there in March, and this social justice-aware group jumped at the chance to help her spread the word about what she is collecting, organize and manage the collection bins, and prepare the donations for her trip. Those who are participating will share the message with Maura next Wednesday at All School Meeting. |